When I was 14, I was doing undergraduate research and playing video games. You don't really have to pick.

---------- Post added 2012-11-27 at 05:41 PM ----------

Originally Posted by RICH1471

College at 15? Sure she will get along great with everyone else in their 20's.....

I started college part time when I was 12, full time at 13, and it was basically fine. There wasn't really much for bumps in the road, and everyone just treated me as a peer (although I got a lot of the obvious questions). It's really just not that big of a deal.

I feel sorry for her, fancy not having any friends at all at her age. All the kids her age are dumb fucks to her, she cannot relate at all. Everyone with the same level of qualifications are 10+ years older than her and dont want to hang around with a kid. She will have problems later in life I am sure, she has my sympathies.

Well, you're just plain wrong. I'm not really sure what else to tell you. Being academically advanced doesn't really have anything to do with making friends; my best friend was a kid I met when I was about 8 or 9 years old, and we remained best friends all through undergrad and graduate school, nothing's really changed.

I started college part time when I was 12, full time at 13, and it was basically fine. There wasn't really much for bumps in the road, and everyone just treated me as a peer (although I got a lot of the obvious questions). It's really just not that big of a deal.

My mom was early to college (although not as early as you) and was miserable.

I think in general being outside of your peer group in what is considered one of the most social parts of your life is more detrimental than not. Glad to hear you had a good time of it though.

It seems pointless to discuss with you. And now you talk about drugs o_O... If you don't think that "profiteering" has become the core of making business then I am sorry. And sadly, the human health is nothing but a business for most people (pharmaceutical industry). Therefore I am happy that this little girl puts her intelligence into something that actually aims to solve problems and doesn't try to maintain a status quo out of "cheap labourer" reasons or whatever.

It's like you're not aware that the NIH and non-profit research exist.

When I was 14, I was doing undergraduate research and playing video games. You don't really have to pick.

---------- Post added 2012-11-27 at 05:41 PM ----------

I started college part time when I was 12, full time at 13, and it was basically fine. There wasn't really much for bumps in the road, and everyone just treated me as a peer (although I got a lot of the obvious questions). It's really just not that big of a deal.

Treated you with respect? Sure, Treated you as a peer? Not a chance, a kid is still a kid, regardless of intelligence.

My mom was early to college (although not as early as you) and was miserable.

I think in general being outside of your peer group in what is considered one of the most social parts of your life is more detrimental than not. Glad to hear you had a good time of it though.

I'll never fully understand what makes everyone different, but there's definitely people that do well with it and people that don't (just like high school, really). I had a mixed social life between the people at my university and the kids I played football and basketball with. When I started grad school (took my time through undergrad, stopped rushing at that point), I had my grad school life and then lived more like most people think of college kids living like when I wasn't at work/school. It was a bit of back and forth, but really not so hard.

How many social events were you invited to at the age of 14? Go to many nightclubs or bars with your "peers"?

I spent most of my out of school social time with kids closer to my age, since I didn't live on campus. I didn't state that everything was exactly the same for me as every other student, I stated that I was always treated as a peer. I could run down a list of specific examples, but what's the point? You've decided that you know how my life actually went, and anything at all will seem to confirm to you that you're correct.

Yeah... name one disease that makes more money for a drug company to treat rather than cure.

I am not saying that current medicine does not aim to cure what it's meant for. Not everything works, some stuff is utter bullcrap or has severe side-effects, but a lot of medicine actually helps.

But I am certain that way more is possible but kept away from publicity because it would lower the rather stable margin of pharmaceutical products. If a 14 years old girl can find a solution to dirty water, what about all those people who have spent way way more years exploring and studying chemistry? They all got outwitted by a young girl? Or maybe, in case she is "only" very very smart but no genious, there just hasn't been enough "interest" to do research on this subject before.

I am not saying that current medicine does not aim to cure what it's meant for. Not everything works, some stuff is utter bullcrap or has severe side-effects, but a lot of medicine actually helps.

But I am certain that way more is possible but kept away from publicity because it would lower the rather stable margin of pharmaceutical products. If a 14 years old girl can find a solution to dirty water, what about all those people who have spent way way more years exploring and studying chemistry? They all got outwitted by a young girl? Or maybe, in case she is "only" very very smart but no genious, there just hasn't been enough "interest" to do research on this subject before.

Take your pick.

Wow talk about not having a single clue about how medicine and chemistry works.

This isn't the World of Warcraft's crafting system. You don't walk into a lab and science so fucking hard the cure for cancer pops out.

In reality, chemists draw up plans for a chemical designed to do a certain thing in the body. Look at OTHER chemicals that do similar things. Figure out how to synthesize those. Modify the synthesis process to get a chemical similar to what you want. MAKE A FUCKING BILLION DIFFERENT CHEMICALS SIMILAR TO THE ONE YOU WANT. Test every last one of them in mice to see which ones don't kill them. Then find which ones actually do close to what you want them to do. Take that chemical and start all over until you get one that's good enough to market as a drug.

Congratulations, you now know why Pfizer spends more on R&D than Apple despite making less money.

It's like you're not aware that the NIH and non-profit research exist.

And that is sufficient for you? You simply believe that? Well, sir, I honor your optimism, but I fear you have not understood how rotten the ways are a human being chooses to get his cut. Look, I am not trying to pose something like the harbinger of the apocalypse or something like that. I am just trying to redirect the attention away from the potential pecuniary success to a rather "result-oriented" approach that calls money secondary. If she really found a way to help those, mostly third-world-people, then this is something utterly brilliant and beautiful. And talking about her becoming amazingly rich due to her "urge to help" is simply a debasement of her whole work.

And that is sufficient for you? You simply believe that? Well, sir, I honor your optimism, but I fear you have not understood how rotten the ways are a human being chooses to get his cut. Look, I am not trying to pose something like the harbinger of the apocalypse or something like that. I am just trying to redirect the attention away from the potential pecuniary success to a rather "result-oriented" approach that calls money secondary. If she really found a way to help those, mostly third-world-people, then this is something utterly brilliant and beautiful. And talking about her becoming amazingly rich due to her "urge to help" is simply a debasement of her whole work.

I have no idea at all what you're trying to say. Researchers work hard to solve problems, are not paid impressive salaries by any reasonable standard, and tend to be quite smart. Most aren't in line to ever profit from their work in any substantial way, they do it because they like science.

The problem of inventing a better water purifier (of which there are many designs) is just something that's much more amenable to simple, clever solutions than biomedical research.

---------- Post added 2012-11-27 at 06:06 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Laize

You don't walk into a lab and science so fucking hard the cure for cancer pops out.